On fire for the own employer

To successfully hire new employees companies intensify efforts in forming their image as an employer. According to a recent study, results for e.g. Germany show that referral programmes which turn staff into ambassadors for the company play an important role.

For more than four out of five HR managers in Germany establishing and maintaining a true employer brand is the means of choice to address the growing skills shortage. That’s a key message of a recent study and its evaluation for Germany. The study included more than 3,300 HR managers worldwide and was conducted by the career network LinkedIn. In comparison, one year before merely 69% of the interviewees that were questioned in Germany were convinced that an attractive employer brand would facilitate their search for employees.

The study also points out that the choice of adequate communications channels is crucial to reach potential employees. In Germany, professional referral programmes recently sneaked up the popularity scale – proving that HR managers increasingly discover the power of their own employees as ambassadors of the company. However, a study in several European countries by the job platform StepStone shows many companies have to catch up here: only 14% of the interviewed employees stated they would recommend their companies without hesitation!

Professional referral programmes are a genuine communications task which, in times of people networks and employer ranking platforms such as kununu.com, employer branding strategists can no longer ignore. For communications service providers this means that solutions have to equally fit the needs of a company’s PR, advertising and HR management. And only if they manage to develop truly relevant content and authentic values they will in fact manage to set employees on fire.